Township pours cold water on library plans

Claudette Richardson, the chair of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) Board, might have expected a cold reception when she came to a meeting of North Frontenac Council in Snow Road to explain why her board voted to close the Ompah branch.

While Richardson received a polite, if unenthusiastic response to her explanation of the board's actions, members of the Ompah Library Users Group who were in attendance saved their anger for council itself, when council showed little enthusiasm for providing any financial support towards setting up a public Internet hotspot in the former branch.

Richardson went over the chronology of events, going back to the amalgamation of the Kingston and Frontenac libraries in 1998, and subsequent library branch studies in 2004 and 2010. She explained that as far as the library board has been concerned, it was not feasible to provide service to both Ompah and Plevna.

“I know it is controversial among some of the people in this area, but in the view of the library board, the Ompah/Plevna area is a single catchment area. All the reports that we've seen basically conclude that we will support one branch for that area. The fact is that the new branch was located in Plevna rather than Ompah, and that was not our decision.

“A motion was brought from the floor of our meeting just before Easter. All the issues were very clear in our minds at that time. There was some discussion about deferring the motion. It was finally brought to a vote and it was decided in a vote 5-4 to close the branch,” Claudette Richardson told council.

“We had expected and asked for input from the library board before this decision was taken,” said Councilor John Inglis. “We sent a resolution to the library board earlier and received no response.”

“We had received a resolution from the township, and one from Central Frontenac Council as well, but really, our relationship is with the county, not the townships, so we did not know what to do with the resolutions. We took them into consideration but did not know how to respond,” Richardson answered.

“There is no doubt in my mind that KFPL Board is doing a wonderful job,” said Mayor Bud Clayton. “When the board decides to close branches there are two issues - fiscal issues, which are not relevant in this case, and moral issues. The board does not think this branch is viable, but the people in Ompah were running the branch themselves until 1998. If the Ompah users can demonstrate to the board that they can make the branch work with their own efforts, will the board re-examine the issue?"

“I don't see why the board wouldn't,” said Claudette Richardson.

Setback for Users Group

The Users group has set up a temporary service in the former Ompah branch, using donated books and two donated computers, and the township has donated the space. The group is keeping the branch open for four hours a week, the same four hours that the KFPL had been providing, using volunteers. They also want to provide public Internet service at that location for 10 extra hours a week, which is something the township provides, with permission from the KFPL, at the existing branches in Cloyne and Plevna,

But a request by the Ompah Users Group for financial support from council to cover the $640 short term cost of satellite Internet and the wages of a summer student for 10 hours a week was deferred by council until July 18.

Councilor Betty Hunter said that providing Internet service in the Ompah area for summer cottagers is a priority now that KFPL is gone. She described the area around Ompah as “the darkest in the township in terms of high speed Internet.”

Councilor Gerry Martin said, “We don't want to start a public library board in North Frontenac.”

“I believe the group should have a fundraiser - raise $500 or so, and then come back to us,” said Mayor Clayton.

“My concern is that if we defer this, it simply is not going to happen,” said Councilor Inglis.

“So Plevna and Ompah can have a student paid by the township for ten hours a week but Ompah can't,” said Marily Seitz of the users group.

When council did not vote on the funding request, the users group left.

ATVs and trails: Beryl Stott presented information about some of the damaging impacts ATVs can have on multi-use trails, and outlined how specific trails for ATVs are preferable.

She said that use of ATVs on wetlands needs to be prohibited, as should aggressive-tread tires on trails, and made a number of other recommendations.

North Frontenac is a popular destination for ATV trail riders, and there are number of controls in place, in line with a number of Beryl Stott's recommendations.

“This is not the first time we have considered a number of these concerns,” said Mayor Clayton, “but it is valuable to receive them all in this way.

Senior of the Year – Ernest Lapchinski, who has been working diligently for five years towards obtaining provincial funding for the expansion to the Pine Meadow Nursing Home, and who is a volunteer with Bon Echo Park as well, was nominated by the township for a provincial senior of the year award. He was named as one of the recipients by the province. Lapchinski, a retired doctor, said that when he moved to the area he did not know what he was going to do with his time. “I was invited to get involved and it has brought me into contact with many wonderful people. I love this place.”

Changes in staffing – Mayor Clayton made a statement regarding the results of an organizational review that has been going on behind the scenes at the township for several months, and has been discussed at several in-camera meetings.

“An organizational review was ordered by the previous council and has taken place over several months,” he said.

He added that changes coming from the review will “be a total new way of doing business for the township to ensure that we are sustainable,” in light of requirements that the province has brought in for asset management and accountability.

The review has not resulted in any decreases in township staffing at this time, but there have been some shuffling of positions. Cheryl Robson is now the Chief Administrative Officer, and Angela Miller is the Treasurer. Brenda Defosse has switched from the clerk/planning co-ordinator position to waste/recycling co-ordinator and Jenny Duhamel as taken over the clerk/planning job.

As previously reported, John Ibey has retired as public works manager and a new hiring will be taking place. In the meantime, the roads foreman Gregg Wise has been filling in as public works manager in addition to his regular duties.

Denbigh/Northbrook ambulance base

Council approved a motion in support of the Lennox and Addington County ambulance bases located in Northbrook and Denbigh, saying “they are located in critical geographic locations providing cross boundary coverage.” The motion went on to point out that “Counties are inappropriate jurisdictions for the administration of ambulance service”, and urged the province to reconsider the downloading of the service.

Road tender granted: It was extremely close but Smith Construction has won the contract for paving 1 km of Canonto Road, 1 km of Buckshot Lake Road, 0.3 km of Lodge Road, and 9 km. of road 506/509, and doing work on the Barrie salt/sand storage facility. The winning bid was $284,595. The only other bidder was Greenwood Paving, at $287,571. The bids came in under the budget estimates for the projects, which was $330,000. Township staff will review the bids to make sure all the specifications are covered before awarding the contract.

Library fans in Ompah have proven that a local library is important to the community. On Saturday, July 9 the community will celebrate the Grand Opening of the Ompah Community Library. The doors will open from 12:00 to 2:00pm. The official opening with ribbon and cake cutting will happen at 1:00pm. All are invited to come and see the airy, open, book filled space, and to borrow some books. Refreshments and musical entertainment will occur throughout the event.

The Ompah Community Library has been overwhelmed by the generosity of the community with their donations of high quality books - so many books in fact, that the library shelves are full to overflowing with no room to store more. The Library asks that any more book donations be kept for four to six months when they will ask for more donations to change the collection and keep the shelves filled with fresh titles. The Ompah Library also asked for computers. Now two computers, complete with printer, are up and running, with a back-up computer system waiting in the wings. Satellite internet service has been ordered and should be installed within two weeks.

Audio visual shelves are not yet fully stocked. The library could use some more CD’s, DVD’s, books on tape, and more science fiction and fantasy books. Donations of cash have been received and further donations would be welcome to help with the satellite internet costs.

The library was created through donations from the community and is organized and staffed by community volunteers. Come and help celebrate the opening of the Ompah Community Library. As long time local resident Alma Mabo said, “It’s ours!”

Did you know that 70% of residents in Addington Highlands and North Frontenac use wood to heat their homes? Maybe that is not surprising to you. But what may be of interest is the fact that more than 80% would support seeing more rooftop solar panels in the region. Now based on the high acceptance rate of rooftop solar, how might that impact the face of energy use here in the future, say five, 10 or even 20 years from now? The survey results also clearly gauge citizens on the “not in my backyard” stance. The Not In My Backyard or “NIMBY” response is a favourite explanation for some policy makers who suggest people will oppose any new buildings or new technology close to their property. The survey suggests people do not have a NIMBY attitude when it comes to new potential methods to generate energy.

So maybe it would be helpful to find out how your neighbours across the region answered the survey and share some of your ideas. Come hear more at one of the information evenings where University of Ottawa researcher Stewart Fast will report back results of the recent energy use and energy attitudes survey completed by residents. All welcome to meetings held in Denbigh (April 7, Denbigh Town Hall), Flinton  (April 10, Flinton Hall) and Ompah (April 11, Ompah Hall). Light refreshments served. Start time 7PM.

Waste reduction efforts succeeding - North Frontenac achieves 38% diversion

Guy Laporte and Anne Kloosterman of AECOM brought good news to North Frontenac Council when they presented their 2010 waste site reports.

Laporte presented detailed analyses of the township’s five active sites: 506, Ardoch, Kashwakamak, Mississippi and Plevna; the Cloyne and Ompah transfer stations; and the closed Fernleigh site.

At none of the sites were there serious enough problems with either ground or surface water to warrant any remedial actions and AECOM recommended only continued monitoring.

The 506 site is the only one where action will have to be taken because waste material has been pushed beyond the marked boundaries. Public Works Manager John Ibey explained that that had occurred in previous years before the boundaries were marked. The township will have to budget for the work because it will involve removing and reinstalling the site’s bear fence.

The Ministry of the Environment (MoE) has indicated that they have some concerns about the Ardoch site, but their officials have not kept appointments to meet with AECOM and the township about those concerns. Mayor Bud Clayton commented, “If they were really concerned we’d be hearing from them.”

Some sites, Mississippi and 506, had an increase in garbage prior to 2010, but Laporte said that was due to the Cloyne and Ompah waste sites closing, and in 2010 the amount of garbage went back down.

The really good news was that due to the township’s new waste diversion strategies, the amount of recyclables turned in at all sites in 2010 was greater than the amount of garbage. The Plevna site was the best, with 56% recyclables versus 44% household household. The 506 site was typical with 52% recyclables to 48% garbage.

When construction and other waste sources are included in the calculation as well as household garbage, the township has achieved 38% diversion since their Integrated Waste Management Plan was adopted two years ago. Its target is 50%, which Laporte said was lower than the 60% provincial target, but it is acknowledged that 60% diversion is only possible with measures like urban curbside pickup and green bins.

Guy Laporte was highly complimentary of the work that John Ibey and his crews have done in re-grading and attributed most of the sites’ improvements to their work, and also to the garbage compacter that the township is now using.

Township staff is continuing to seek more ways of diverting waste and is meeting with other municipalities about a new service to be available through Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery at a location near Arnprior, where they will be accepting shingles, concrete, and clean wood etc.

Mayor Clayton commented that in 2002 North Frontenac had an estimate of about 22 years of life left in all their sites. Nine years later, the estimate has improved to 28 years and he said it was due to the hard work of the staff.

He said that the biggest measure that the township could now take to reduce leachate would be to keep organics out of the sites through composting, as leachate comes from the water in decaying organic materials.

Council discussed two articles they received about fundraising by volunteer fire departments, which were written by a lawyer who is an advisor with the Alberta Fire Commissioner's Office and also an ex-firefighter. The letter cautioned that fire departments must receive prior approval from, and be acting under the direction of their municipal councils for all fundraising and purchases; otherwise the fire fighters can be personally liable if anything goes wrong. The articles also said that fire associations should be legally incorporated and monies they raise should go into the municipality's bank accounts. This is not presently the case in North Frontenac. Fire Chief Steve Riddell said that the Ompah and Snow Road departments are registered as non-profit organizations and the Clar-Mill Fire Department has applied or is applying to be registered. However, council will not require that funds be transferred to the township's bank account, merely that the township’s treasurer should be made aware of how much money is in the fire departments' accounts. Also that all fundraising must clearly specify what the funds will be used for and that the fire fighters understand that any assets they purchase become the township's property.

"We don't want to put a damper on the fire departments," said Mayor Clayton, "we just don't want anyone to be hurt."

Steve Riddell said he had discussed the articles with all the deputy fire chiefs and that there would be no problem; that all the firefighters are totally on board. It was also mentioned that the same concerns and rules apply to all volunteer organizations affiliated with the township.

The township will nominate Ernest Lapchinski for the Order of Ontario.

The Ompah ambulance base/fire hall is not on the agenda for the County of Frontenac's budget meeting on March 30, but will come up at the next county council meeting on April 20.

Mayor Clayton said he was trying to be “diplomatic” in his comments, but that a number of councilors at county council, including the North Frontenac councilors, are not in favour of what the county proposes to do with the federal gas tax monies they are receiving, which amounts to $817,000 per year. The money must be spent on “sustainable infrastructure”. County staff proposes to spend $620,000 and transfer $110,000 back to the townships, of which North Frontenac will get about $15,250. Mayor Clayton commented that infrastructure includes not only roads and bridges, but also telephone and hydro lines, churches, community halls. The county proposes to spend their $620,000 on various projects, including a study into the feasibility of a milk processing plant and expenditures on the K&P Trail (for a detailed breakdown see the March 17, 2011 article “Frontenac County Council” in our archives at frontenacnews.ca). Bud Clayton said that the K&P Trail is not continuous and that if the county gets into purchasing private property to develop the trail it would be an expensive proposition.

Ompah library committee still wants their 2 hours

Marily Seitz and Janice Arthur came to a meeting of North Frontenac Council this week seeking further support in their battle to restore two hours a week to service at the Ompah branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

When the Plevna branch was closed for almost two years due to mould problems in the Clar-Mill Hall where it had been housed, Ompah's hours were upped from six to 10.

“During that time frame use at the Ompah branch doubled,” said Marily Seitz.

A new Plevna branch was constructed in what had been a portable classroom at Glenburnie, which was relocated to Plevna, and the new branch includes an enhanced computer area. In order to encourage use at the Plevna branch, the library board decided to open it for 10 hours a week, and cut the Ompah branch’s hours back to four a week, two less than it had before the Plevna branch was closed.

The Ompah library users want those two hours back, but several appeals to the library board have fallen on deaf ears.

“North Frontenac Council and Frontenac County Council have sent recommendations to the library board and they have not been responded to. Two motions to reinstate two hours were rejected by the library board,” said Marily Seitz. “We feel that we are taxpayers too and we are not receiving the library services we are entitled to.”

A petition asking for a return of the hours, signed by over 100 Ompah residents, was also sent to the library board.

“What happened with the petition?” asked Councilor Fred Perry.

“The library devoted staff time to vetting the list, and they determined that only 24 of the people who signed were library members and therefore they discounted it,” said Marily Seitz.

One member of Frontenac County Council sits on the board of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) and the council also appoints two community members. When the new four-year community appointments were made last fall, Paige Cousineau, a member of the Ompah Library users group, was one of the appointees, along with Sydenham resident Wilma Kenny. The county council member on the library board is John Purdon from Central Frontenac.

“So what do you want done now?” asked Mayor Bud Clayton. “We could restate our position by affirming our motion asking for the hours to be reinstated, and be prepared to look at further steps.”

“I think you will have to be prepared for further steps,” said Seitz. “Library staff say it will cost $3,000 more a year for two more hours and if the library won't budget for it maybe North Frontenac can.”

Other items from North Frontenac Council -

Business Development Association formed – Councilor Betty Hunter informed council that the first meeting of a new business group has taken place. The first thing they looked at was the township’s business directory, which requires an update. More meetings are planned and Hunter said that the Addington Highlands committee might be approached to work with North Frontenac. A second meeting is planned for March 29 (see Northern Happenings).

Policing Advisory Committee: Two members of council and one member of staff attended a meeting in Smiths Falls with the OPP Regional commander Gerry Salisbury. Councilor Gerry Martin reported that he felt better informed about how the OPP is funded by local tax dollars and provincial dollars, and said that once a policing advisory committee is up and running the township may be able to have more input into the strategic planning direction at the Sharbot Lake detachment.

The township received a letter from Bob Bateman from Shabomeka Lake about maintenance on an un-maintained township road that runs between two pieces of private land that is used extensively in the summer and periodically in the winter by seasonal residents. Township CAO Cheryl Robson proposed that the township respond to Bateman with a letter stating that the township is not going to do maintenance on that piece of road and that in order for him to do it he must demonstrate that he has obtained $2 million in liability insurance. Mr. Bateman will be invited to a meeting the township is setting up with a number of residents that have issues with maintenance on pieces of un-maintained township roads.

New deputy chief: The township has appointed Denis Bedard as Deputy Fire Chief for the Ompah station.

Bear Wise: the township has applied for funding from the provincial Bear Wise program to cover most of the costs for a 2,600 square foot solar-powered electric fence to deter bears at the Plevna waste site on Buckshot Lake Road. The grant would pay $18,244, leaving about $2,000 in in-kind costs for the township, such as for brushing, removal of trees, etc. along the fence line.

When the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) Board abruptly closed the Ompah Library in April, the community was shocked. Our little library, built by volunteers and community donations before being folded into the KFPL system in 1998, satisfied our needs and its closure left a large hole. We decided to create an interim library/community resource centre until library services are again provided.

The Ompah United Church - bless 'em- offered the use of Kelford Hall, and after the Frontenac News article about the creation of an interim library service, bags of books began appearing at the church hall. John Donalan, a retired librarian from Godfrey, drove up with a bag of books on Saturday, and then stayed to help sort and organize the collection. He, and the Ompah Lirary Users Group (OLUG), are astonished at the quality and variety of books donated. There are mystery, non-fiction, romance, general novels, and kids books, talking books, and CDs.

The interim Community Resource Centre is up and operating with volunteers out of the Ompah United Church Hall, Thursdays from 6 to 8 pm, and Saturdays from 12 to 2 pm.

At their meeting on June 13, North Frontenac Township Council voted to open the former library site to the interim library. The use of the church hall has allowed library services to continue uninterrupted, but space is limited. The plan is to have the interim library in the old library space by the beginning of July, but until then it will continue to operate out of the Ompah United Church.

The Little Library That Could is now looking for two computers. High-speed internet service is being explored along with the possibility of hiring a student to open the interim library for more hours during the summer. More donations of books, DVDs and CDs are welcome. The group is especially looking for children's books. The OLUG are grateful for the overwhelming support they have received from the United Church, the local community, and further afield. For more information, contact Helen Forsey (479-2453) or Marily Seitz (479-2855).

The Kingston Frontenac Public Library has a new board of directors in place after municipal elections last fall.

Over the next four years the board will oversee the operations of the library and will also be faced with some challenges related to the capacity of some of the library’s branches, including some of the smaller branches in Central and North Frontenac.

Last year, the board commissioned a study by 8020Info of Kingston into library user perceptions and preferences. They also considered and adopted a set of standards that were prepared by the Administrators of Rural and Urban Public Libraries of Ontario (ARUPLO), and prepared a Branch Master Plan document, which was presented to a library board meeting in late October of 2010.

Library Board Chair, Claudette Richardson, said that the master plan is not “so much a plan or a blueprint, but a set of guidelines for us to measure where the library is in relation to the standards that we would like to achieve.”

Information from a branch services review that was completed in 2004, which caused quite a bit of controversy in Central and north Frontenac because it called for the closure of a number of local branches, including the Parham, Arden, Mountain Grove and Ompah branches, is included as an appendix to the branch master plan.

In the plan each branch is evaluated in relation to where it stands in relation to the standards for its category of branch. At the end of the evaluations are recommendations about what would be needed to bring the branches up to standard.

The Arden branch, for example, would need to be enlarged by 470 square feet and have its washroom upgraded to meet accessibility standards. It would also need to be open five more hours each week.

What is worrying to a group of people who have been meeting informally over the winter to talk about rural library service is that under both the Parham and Mountain Grove branches, the plan says the future will depend on the future of the school in each community, “so no enhancements are being considered until that is settled”.

When asked about that, Claudette Richardson said that school closings are not a determining factor in the future of library services. “They are only one factor,” she said, “as would be the opening or closing of a liquor store near a branch.”

Last summer, the Limestone District School Board revealed plans to close Hinchinbrooke School as soon as a new school is built in Sharbot Lake, and to keep Land O’Lakes Public School open.

Under the Ompah branch, which is the smallest in the Kingston Frontenac Public Library system, there are no recommendations for upgrades in the branch profile that is part of the branch master plan.

Members of the Ompah library users group have been lobbying the library board for more hours (it is only open four hours a week), to no avail.

“We receive requests for more branch hours on a weekly basis for each and every one of our branches; Ompah is by no means alone in that, ” said Richardson. “Our studies reveal we should need 66 more hours throughout the system just to meet the minimum standards.”

Richardson said that the studies that have been done and the reports that have been made to the library board are all about “making sure that we have numbers in front of us so we can make decisions based on more than assumptions. On the one hand we are working to promote the library service and trying to refresh and improve our services throughout the system, but on the other hand we have to act responsibly, since we are spending public money.”

Paige Cousineau, a newly minted member of the KFPL Board, who comes from Ompah and was appointed by Frontenac County Council, has been attending the meetings of the library users group, which includes people from Ompah, Arden, Parham, Mountain Grove and elsewhere. She said, “The users group has nothing to do with the library board. They just decided that an umbrella group should be formed to represent their shared interests.”

Cousineau added that in her view, “The library board is exceptionally capable. I fully expect to be able to work with the board to formulate policies for the rural library service that meet people’s needs and desires.”

Ompah Library

Marily Seitz presented an update on the Ompah Community Library.

She said the library, which sprung up as a community venture when the Kingston Frontenac Public Library closed the Ompah branch in the spring of 2011, “is alive and thriving and has become a vital community hub.”

There has been no problem stocking the shelves, as donated books, none of them more than five years old, have been plentiful and varied. “We have 25 boxes of books in storage that we plan to use to change the collection on the shelves,” said Seitz.

One of the more popular functions of the library has been the Internet access that it offers its patrons. The location has been designated as a CAP, or Community Access Portal site, but that federal program has now ended. Mazinaw Online will keep the Internet service running until the end of this year, but after that the library will need to find a provider, and pay the cost of the connection.

“To continue with our present service will cost $90 a month, which is more than we can afford, but there are options at about $60 a month, which we might be able to cover,” said Seitz.

The library was very well used by the summer residents this year, Seitz added, a marked increase over last summer when the library was just getting up and running. “People rave about our collection of books,” Marily Seitz said.

Members of Council expressed their support for the library, and Mayor Clayton thanked Marily Seitz for the update. The library is open for two hours, two days a week during the winter, and three days a week in the summer.

Fire Hall Task Force deferred

Councilor John Inglis presented a proposal for the makeup of a task force to work on plans for a new fire hall in Ompah. Mayor Clayton said that now that he has Inglis' “wish list” for members he would like to see what names other members of Council come up with.

Chief Adminisrative Officer Cheryl Robson said that the company contracted to begin a phase 2 assessment of the property the township purchased for the fire hall will begin their work this week.

Asset Management Plan –

For several years North Frontenac Council and staff have been diligent in following provincial initiatives aimed at developing a comprehensive inventory of municipal assets and liabilities. And that effort might pay off for the township in the near future

The provincial government’s latest announcement regarding infrastructure funding for municipalities ties future funding to the development of asset management plans that cover all municipal property: roads, bridges, culverts, offices, halls, garages and road equipment, cemeteries, even lighting fixtures.

The value of each asset, its state of repair, replacement cost, and a financial plan to cover maintenance and replacement costs over time, will all be required before municipalities will be able to apply for future help from provincial and federal funding programs.

Because North Frontenac has taken considerable steps over the past few years to account for its physical assets and their replacement costs, CAO Robson said in a report to council that the township's auditing firm, KPMG, is in a position to complete an asset management plan that conforms to provincial standards, for only $1,500. The only additional costs could be some engineering information that may be required.

Council accepted Robson’s recommendation to engage KPMG. A provincial funding program to help with asset management plans might cover the cost.

Photo: The Ompah fire hall, which is not only too small to hold all the equipment the fire crew uses, it is also slowly sinking into the swampy ground

“Give us a chance to decide what we want to do, and to do it right.”

That was the final word from North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton, at least for this week, after hearing a chorus of comments and suggestions from Ompah area residents at two meetings on subsequent days.

The first meeting was a public meeting organized by the Canonto Lake Property Owners' Association on Sunday August 19. It drew an overflow crowd of an estimated 160 people to the Ompah hall. The community hall is located in the same building as the Ompah fire hall, which is not only too small to hold all the equipment the fire crew uses, it is also slowly sinking into the swampy ground.

The second meeting, held in the same location, was a regularly scheduled North Frontenac Council meeting on Monday, August 20.

The hall was less crowded at the Council meeting, but there were about 25 Ompah firefighters and supporters on hand to hear a presentation by Jim Holton, as well as costing numbers that were put together by fire department member Brian Moffit.

“I wondered how much it would cost to build a fire hall,” Moffit said as he began a short power point presentation in front of Council, “so I made some calls and got some written quotes.”

What Moffit came up with was a 45x100 foot building with 16-foot high ceilings, in either steel or wood frame construction, at a cost of $348,000.

The township had been prepared to spend up to $550,000 on a 2750 square foot fire hall that was to be built in conjunction with a Frontenac County ambulance base. However at the public meeting on Sunday, Mayor Clayton said that of that money, $150,000 was to come from reserve funds, but “was only being made available as an inducement for the county to bring the ambulance base to Ompah, which is not going to happen now.”

On July 16, North Frontenac Council voted to pull out of the ambulance base/fire hall project because the bids on a Request for Proposal for the preferred bid on the project would have meant a $724,000 cost to the township for the contract alone, not including ancillary costs, which Mayor Clayton said could have resulted in North Frontenac ratepayers being on the hook for up to $1 million.

At the public meeting on August 19, the consensus among the people who aired their views during the public session was that Council made the right decision to get out of the deal with the county, but that now they should get going immediately to build a fire hall on the site they purchased for that purpose.

Leo Ladouceur, a former member of the Ompah fire crew, who served as a resource person for the firefighters at the public meeting, summed up the perspective of most of the people in the hall when he said: “We expect the mayor to get the will together to build the fire hall we need. And please build the fire hall we need and not one the size of a councilor's hat.”

Mayor Clayton, as well as Councilors Watkins, Inglis and Hunter, who were present at the Sunday morning meeting, all committed to voting for a fire hall to be built in Ompah.

At least one other vote on Council would be needed to support building a fire hall.

There was nothing on the formal agenda at the Monday night meeting about the fire hall, aside from the presentation by Jim Holton and Brian Moffit. But Councilor Inglis said that one way or another he will make sure the matter is brought forward at the next meeting, on September 10.

“Somebody will prepare an administrative report and try to bring this to a vote,” said Inglis.

If indeed the project receives support in principle from Council on September 10, there will still be two major issues to resolve.

The first has to do with the property that is slated to house the building. In pursuing the ill-fated ambulance base/fire hall project, it came to light that the property was once a service station, and a consultant looking into possible contamination of the site concluded that a $30,000 study may or may not be sufficient to give the site a clean bill of environmental health.

Council will need to decide if it wants to ignore the consultant's advice and go ahead; to seek a new site for the fire hall; or to reverse their own decision of July 16 not to proceed with the study and invest the $30,000 and perhaps more to clear the site.

The second issue is the actual cost of a fire hall.

There is $400,000 in the 2012 fire budget for a fire hall in Ompah, but until the township itself costs the building the precise costs will not be known.

Mayor Clayton asked Brian Moffit for all the information he has gathered about cost, but the township will have to follow their own process to determine the final price.

While the future prospects for a new Ompah fire hall remain in question, the public meeting established that the seasonal cottager population stands firmly behind their fire crews, partly because fire crews deliver one of the few township services that seasonal populations can identify, and partly for financial reasons.

One seasonal resident pointed out that he has recently re-insured his cottage and while doing it he asked the insurer what the effect of closing the Ompah fire hall would be on his insurance.

“He said it would go up 23%,” the man said. “That would cost me $450.”

Editorial by Jeff Green

Back in the fall of 2010, North Frontenac Council thought it would cost about $80 per square foot to build a fire hall/ambulance post in Ompah. Frontenac County staff disagreed. By hiring project management, and building to LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) standards, a policy that has been adopted by Frontenac County as part of its sustainability initiative, they put the price at $200 per square foot once all the costs were in.

It took a year to sort the whole thing out, but in the end it is fair to say that the county's view prevailed. With Frontenac County having committed $300,000 for a 1,500 square foot space, and North Frontenac committing up to $550,000 for a 2,750 square foot fire hall, the project got underway last November.

The price came in at $1.14 million, $257 per square foot for a building that is meant to house an ambulance and some fire equipment, and provide a basic resting spot for two paramedics for up to 10 hours a day, and a meeting room for the periodic use of firefighters. Effectively it is a building with two garages and some basic amenities, but that is what the preferred bid has come in at.

In response to that pricing, there has been a resounding silence from both Frontenac County and North Frontenac. Both councils received a report that outlines the costs, including proposals about how to mitigate some of the costs by cutting out $115,000 in LEED-related costs and making the building smaller.

The impact would be to cut the cost for the North Frontenac share of the project from $734,000 to just over $600,000.

But when it came time to send a request to Frontenac County Council to cut out the LEED costs and make the project more affordable, the votes were simply not there on North Frontenac Council.

Four members of the seven-member council are simply not willing to spend any more than $550,000 on the project, and there is no scenario on the table now that can bring the cost back to $550,000.

It's as simple as that.

The official reason why nothing has happened since this stark reality was revealed in early June is that an environmental assessment is still pending. But that assessment, which was seen as a hurdle that had to be overcome quickly before the costing for the project was revealed, has now become nothing more than a convenient excuse to delay the inevitable final decision to kill the project that North Frontenac Council will be facing.

When North Frontenac Council decided not to even ask Frontenac County Council to provide some relief, they lost their best opportunity to rid themselves of the political responsibility for killing the project. They did not do so out of fear of county council; they did so out of fear that their pleas would be heard and they would have to spend $50,000 more on the project. What that vote demonstrated was that the current North Frontenac Council is not really behind this project, which was initially championed by the previous council.

In the first place, the Ompah location was the second choice of the previous Frontenac county council for a northern ambulance base, and it has less than fulsome support on the current county council, so to say the project is on shaky ground with this current pricing would be more than understating the reality.

What next?

For the paramedic service, the likeliest scenario will be a return to the original plan, a full-sized, $1 million plus base to be built in the vicinity of Ardoch Road and Road 509.

For the Ompah fire service, the scenario is less clear. It might be possible to fix up the existing base, although there are issues with flooding at the back of the hall, and there is also the possibility of the township building a stand alone fire hall.

While promises have been made to the people in Ompah about a new fire hall and about the ambulance service, the latest pricing debacle has laid bare the fact that there is little political support, not only at Frontenac County, but on North Frontenac Council as well, for this project after all.

If it is to be killed, best to do it quickly and move on.

As it stands, there will be an ambulance idling at the North Frontenac Township garage on a deserted stretch of highway at Lavant for up to 10½ hours a day for another winter.

That can hardly be in keeping with anyone's idea of fiscal or environmental sustainability.

Further, this question should be asked.

No matter who builds what, it is hard to see why it should cost $257 a square foot to build a glorified garage with taxpayers' money.